The 2015 Daily Cheapskate Shlissel Challah Contest: we have the winners!

We have our three winners!

This year, we received over 60 entries into the Shlissel Challah contest.  We had some incredibly beautiful challahs this year, and it was not easy selecting three winners.

Sara Bakaev of Baltimore, MD and Renee Mayerfeld of Passaic, NJ each won the brand new Artscroll cook book, The Silver Platter: Simple to Spectacular, and Miriam Lawrence of Denver, CO won the Rhodes Bake 'N Serve kitchen gift bag and cookbook.  

My thanks to our two wonderful sponsors for donating the prizes, Artscroll.com and Rhodes Bake 'N Serve.

The 25 Rhodes $1.00 coupons will be mailed out later this week.  You will receive an email from me asking for your mailing address if you are one of the first 25 entries. (You'll need to respond within 48 hours if you'd like a coupon.)

Without further ado, here are the three winning entries:

And here are all of the entries:

Follow Daily Cheapskate's board Shlissel challah on Pinterest.

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First, a little background.  If you already know everything there is to know about shlissel challah, skip the blue box and scroll down to read about the contest.

What is a "Shlissel Challah?"  Literally, it means "key" challah in Yiddish/German.  It is a custom among Ashkenazic Jews to either place the key to their house inside the first post-Passover challah, or to make the challah in the actual shape of a key, and it is considered a "segulah for parnassah" or a foretoken for prosperity for the coming year.   If you are interested in the Jewish sources for this custom, please click on this wonderful explanatory post here.  If you are able to read Hebrew, here is a special prayer for recitation when you are making your shlissel challah.  Read the laws of Hafrashat Challah (separating the challah) here. Two years ago, there was some controversy regarding the origin of the custom a la this fascinating article on Mesora.org, entitled The Loaf of Idolatry, which was refuted by this piece that appeared on VosIzNeias.com, entitled Shlissel Challah, an Analysis.  The argument is far from settled, but I've made my peace with it. I don't believe that baking a challah in the shape of a key is going to ensure my husband and me a year of prosperity.  The shlissel challah is not magical. But if it serves as a reminder to me that God is the source for all of our sustenance and the Keeper of the key to our parnassah, and it brings out appreciation and acknowledgment for all that He has given us, that is one excellent segulah. And if a segulah is not a potent, magical object, but a prop or reminder, then suddenly its origins don't really seem all that important, as long as it creates change and dveykus (connection) in those who use it. I make my shlissel challah with my favorite, delicious, frugal shortcut: Rhodes dough. You can get the recipe for Rhodes dough Shlissel Challah on my 2012 post, over here.  If you're interested in Rhodes frozen dough, you can find out more about them here on their Facebook page. Some Shlissel Challah baking tips: If you're baking the challah in the shape of a key, keep the shape thin all around.  Challah rises!  And swells, and gets bumpy and misshapen, etc.  The thinner you keep it, the less room it will have to rise into an unrecognizable shape. Don't let the dough over-rise. When I bake ordinary challah,  I usually let the dough rise twice, punching it down in between risings.  But for shlissel challah, I let it rise once, shape it, and get it right into the oven. Initially, make the oven hotter than what you're used to (I turn it to 400 degrees F), and then once the dough forms a crust (about 10 minutes), turn the oven down to a normal baking temp (I turn it down to 350). If you're baking a regular challah and putting a key in it:  1) first wash the key very well in hot soapy water (keys are dirty and germy) 2) wrap the key in parchment paper or foil before you bury it in the challah; keys contain lead. 3) put the key in a very obvious, easy place to find in your challah.  You don't want to be paying someone's dental bills because they bit down on your key!

Now on to the contest!

If you've decided to bake Shlissel Challah this year, I hope you will send me your pictures so that I can post them here and on the Daily Cheapskate Shlissel Challah Pinterest board.  As we did last year, I'm going to pick the ones that I think are the three prettiest and most original (a totally subjective and informal choice) and award those three senders with three grand prizes.

Two of the winners will receive the newest Artscroll cookbook called The Silver Platter: Simple to Spectacular.  This awesome cookbook is so new, it has even been released yet; the release date is 5/6/15, which is when Artscroll will generously send a copy to two of our winners.  The Silver Platter contains over 160 new recipes, and you can read more about it here.  (It is available now for pre-order.)  If you're interested in finding out more about Artscroll, please visit and like the Artscroll Facebook page over here.

A third winner will receive some wonderful kitchen goodies from Rhodes, including a Rhodes full-size apron, dish towel, oven mitt and a copy of the beautiful full color cookbook, Rhodes Home Baked Family Favorites.   If you're interested in finding out more about Rhodes, please visit and like the Rhodes Facebook page over here.

In addition, the first 25 shlissel challah contest entrants will receive a $1.00 coupon good on any Rhodes item.  Rhodes has several frozen dough varieties that are kosher (OU-Pareve).


All contest entrants must be over 18 and must provide a Continental U.S. address if they want to receive a grand prize or a coupon.  No prizes or coupons will be shipped or mailed outside of the United States.

All contest entrants' challah pictures will be posted on the Daily Cheapskate Shlissel Challah Pinterest board.

You can either email the pictures to me at susie at dailycheapskate.com, or post them on the Daily Cheapskate Facebook page.  I'll have chosen three winners by Monday morning, so as long as you snap a picture of your challah before Shabbat, you can email it to me on Sunday.  (Please make sure you let me know where you are from, i.e. "Chani Y. from Baltimore, MD.")

The purpose of this contest, first and foremost, is to have fun, to share your creations, learn about this wonderful custom, but mostly, it's to have fun.  So please have some!  Send me pictures of your shlissel challah even if it's less than perfect, because it's all about the participation and the sharing.

Disclosure:  Both Artscroll.com and Rhodes Bake 'N Serve co-sponsored this contest.  Neither Artscroll nor Rhodes has compensated me in any way for running this contest on DailyCheapskate.com. Artscroll is providing me with two copies of The Silver Platter: from Simple to Spectacular to give away to two winners , retail value $34.99 each., and Rhodes is providing me with gift items and Rhodes Home Baked Family Favorites to give to a third winner, retail value $50.00. Rhodes is also providing me with coupons for $1.00 off any Rhodes item to give to 25 contest entrants.

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